


Clumps!

by Pidgeapodge



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aangst, Bhanti Tribe, Cute, Fluffy, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Mentions of genocide, Ty Lee descended from Air Nomads, sky bison - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26287459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pidgeapodge/pseuds/Pidgeapodge
Summary: Word comes that there Appa is not the only flying bison that survived the Air Nomad Genocide. That there is a herd of flying bison in… the Fire Nation? Aang, Zuko, Katara, Suki, and Ty Lee go to have a look.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Ty Lee & Sky Bison
Comments: 21
Kudos: 113





	Clumps!

The reports were very surprising, and at first Zuko thought they were a prank. As more came in, though, they became more difficult to dismiss, and he called in Aang.

Together, they plotted out the areas that sky bison were reported to be seen, and drew a perimeter of where to look. Zuko was finally confident enough in his ministers that he could leave them alone for a while without worrying about everything falling apart. Or a coup. 

Aang loaded everybody up on Appa and they flew away. Aside from himself and Zuko, Katara, Suki, and Ty Lee came with them. Katara because she went everywhere with Aang at this point, and Suki and Ty Lee as security. It wouldn’t do for the Fire Lord to be attacked on his day out.

The ride to the Southern Fire Nation was tense and silent. They were all afraid to speak to the hope that maybe some Airbenders survived, as if speaking it aloud would cause it to be untrue. 

The group set down at a small island near the southernmost tip of the Fire Nation archipelago and set up camp. As they put up thetends (and as Katara fetched Appa some clean water), Zuko turned to Aang. 

“So, how will we go about searching?”

Aang fingered the bison whistle hanging around his neck. “I figured I’d try this. It calls Appa without any training, maybe other bison will react to it too.”

Zuko nodded. Aang took a deep breath and blew into the whistle. 

Nothing happened. Zuko couldn’t even hear it make a sound, though Appa rumbled as if to say,  _ “I’m right over here!” _

No bison appeared on the horizon. Zuko and Aang’s eyes searched the skies. Not even a cloud broke up the monotonous blue.

Aang’s shoulders slumped, and Zuko gave him a pat on the back. “Don’t worry, buddy. There’s a lot of area to search. I’m sure it’ll just take a little time before they can hear, or before they get here.”

Aang looked at Zuko sadly and nodded. He didn’t seem to write Zuko off completely, but he didn’t seem to believe Zuko completely either.

Zuko set up a fire, and the group rested. Aang blew his bison whistle every now and then. The sun began to sink. 

The day finally ended, and the group began to turn in. Ty Lee and Katara took first watch while Suki, Zuko, and Aang went to sleep.

* * *

“Guys! Guys, wake up!” whispered Ty Lee. 

Suki and Zuko, used to light sleep, sat up immediately. Aang was a little slower, groggily rubbing his eyes. 

“Are we under attack?” asked Suki.

“Just look!” 

Ty Lee backed out of the tent and the other three crept outside. Aang looked around.

“Wha?” He rubbed his eyes again. He thought he was seeing double. Two Appas?

No… it was… no…

Aang rubbed his eyes again, but he was not mistaken.

“Another sky bison,” whispered Katara next to him. She looked over at Aang. 

Tears pricked in Aang’s eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Appa nuzzled up to the new sky bison, the two animals rumbling greetings to each other. The new bison looked to the humans, and its eyes twinkled.

“I… I think she wants us to follow her.”

The new bison was elderly, Aang could tell. Her fur was spotted through with grey, and no longer held the same luster as Appa’s. The elderly bison rumbled, and then gently floated into the air. 

Aang and his friends quickly took down the tents, throwing them into Appa’s saddle. They climbed into the saddle together, with the elderly bison watching over them. Once they were all situated, the elderly bison floated off.

Appa did not even need Aang to say “Yip, yip!” before taking off into the sky after her.

* * *

It was a little past sunrise when they came to the island. The elderly bison flew toward it and began to descend. 

“Where is this?” asked Aang.

“I think this is called Bhanti Island. There used to be a tribe here, but I’m not sure it’s inhabited by people anymore. It’s so small, it actually doesn’t appear on most maps of the world,” said Zuko.

As Appa descended upon the island, the team could clearly see that Zuko’s assessment was wrong. People dressed in robes with tall hats that almost looked like bottles emerged from the forest to greet the travelers. 

Aang hopped off of Appa’s neck and floated down to the sand. “Hello! My name’s Aang. I followed a sky bison here.”

One of the people who emerged from the trees dipped his head. “We know who you are, Avatar. We have been expecting you.”

Aang cocked his head. “You have?”

The man smiled, but did not answer. “Come. Follow me.”

The rest of the team climbed down Appa, and together they followed the strange man into the forest. The man led them to a cave, before leading them around it. Behind the mountain that the cave was in sat a wide-open plain. Aang gasped.

The plain was filled with sky bison.

Sky bison flying. Sky bison napping. Sky bison playing. Old sky bison. Young sky bison. Baby sky bison. 

Sky bison.

Tears leapt anew into his eyes. He looked at the man who led them there. “Is this, is this… real?”

The man smiled serenely and nodded. “It is, young Avatar.”

“Oh. My. GOSH! They are so CUTE!” squealed Ty Lee. She managed to pronounce “cute” with two syllables, like “ca-yute.”

Aang felt Katara’s arms wrap around him. “I’m so happy for you, Sweetie!” 

Aang turned around in Katara’s embrace to give her a kiss. “It’s real. It’s real,” he said, not bothering to hide the tears streaming down his face. For the first time in a long time, he had hope that he wasn’t the last one. 

“Can I go say hi?” Ty Lee asked the man. He nodded and gestured to the sky bison. Ty Lee squealed with glee and bounded over to where a group of babies were huddled around their mother, nursing.

Aang turned to the man. “Who are you? Are you Air Nomads?”

The man shook his head. “We are the Bhanti Tribe. We have cared for this herd ever since the genocide against your people. We are small and remote, so we were overlooked in the hunt for the escaped Air Nomads.”

“Are there any more? Air Nomads?”

The man smiled sadly. “I’m afraid not.”

Aang could feel the fragile hope in his heart shatter into a million pieces. 

“But they are not gone. Not completely. Though the people once known as Air Nomads may be no more, their descendants live on in many nations.” 

Aang looked up at the man, unsure what to think. “Descendants?”

The man nodded. “As you know, your people were a nomadic people. They traveled the world, and interacted with all the nations. Intermarriage was not uncommon, before the comet.” He paused. “After the comet, not all of the Air Nomads were exterminated. Some managed to escape. They went into hiding, starting families in the Earth Kingdom, and some even in the Fire Nation. Unfortunately, over the course of a hundred years divorced from their people and hiding who they were, the art of Airbending has died out.”

Aang nodded glumly, processing. 

“But though you may be the last Airbender, you are not alone. The descendants of the Air Nomads are many, and they are all around. Sometimes in the least likely places you expect.”

Aang heard Ty Lee’s giggles and looked over. He could see a very young sky bison was playing a game of chase with her. She cartwheeled and somersaulted around the field, as the bison floated in pursuit. They both seemed to be enjoying it.

“Furthermore, Avatar, the sages of our tribe have had a vision. Some day, within the next hundred years, the Air Nomads will be reborn.”

Aang whipped his head around. “Reborn?”

The man nodded. “A great event will occur, causing new airbenders to be made from the descendants of the original Air Nomads. People all over the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and even a few in the Water Tribes will gain the ability to bend the element of air.”

Hope rekindled in Aang’s heart. “When?”

“That I cannot say. We know only that it is still decades away, yet it will occur before the turn of the century. In any case, do not give up hope, Avatar Aang. Your people are still with you.”

Aang remembered the words of Guru Pathik. When he opened his Air Chakra, Guru Pathik had told him that love was all around, and that the love his people had given him was still alive within Aang himself, and born anew. Just like the love of his people was reborn in the love Aang shared with his friends, so too would his people be reborn one day.

Aang saw Katara move in front of him and felt her fingers wipe his cheeks, and he realized he was crying again. Sniffling, he rubbed his eyes and hugged Katara tightly.

“They’ll come back!” he whispered. “Someday… one day… they’ll be back!”

Katara said nothing, simply rubbing his back in soothing circles. The gesture spoke more to Aang than words ever could. 

“Guys, I think he likes me!” Ty Lee said. 

Aang released Katara from the hug and peered over at Ty Lee. The bison she had been playing with was nuzzling her all over, and she playfully pet him. 

“Ty Lee, I think he bonded with you!” Aang said.

“Really?” As if in answer, the little bison jumped up on his hind legs and licked Ty Lee’s face. 

“She and that bison are really getting along,” Suki observed. Aang looked over at Ty Lee again.

He had never really noticed it before, but Ty Lee looked a bit different than most Fire Nation nobles he had seen, all sharp angles and piercing golden gazes. She had a very round face, with big round eyes and a round nose. What’s more, her eyes were grey. 

Could it be possible that, somehow, somewhere, long before the comet, Ty Lee had an Air Nomad ancestor?

If what the Bhanti Tribe man said was true, the answer was “yes.”

Aang turned to the man once more and bowed. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking care of these bison.”

* * *

The group spent the rest of the day playing with the bison. Appa came over and greeted his newfound family, ecstatic to no longer be the last sky bison. Aang, Katara, Zuko, Suki, and Ty Lee played with and cuddled with the bison, loving every second of contact with the fluffy beasts.

Finally, late afternoon came, and it was time to go. None of them really wanted to leave, but they had to get back to the Fire Nation capital. Zuko planned to declare sky bison a protected species, and in any case, the shorter amount of time the Fire Lord was away the better. As they made their way to Appa, one furry little friend just couldn’t bear to say goodbye.

“I’m sorry little guy, I have to go now!” Ty Lee said to her little bison friend.

The little bison groaned and kept nudging Ty Lee with his head. Ty Lee scratched him in between his horns. 

Aang saw how much the little bison bonded with Ty Lee, and quickly whispered something to the Bhanti Tribe man who had accompanied them. Their conversation was short, and ended with the Bhanti Tribe man nodding. Aang went over to Ty Lee.

“You should probably get used to this. Sky bison bond with their human partners for life.”

Ty Lee looked up at Aang in surprise. “For… life?”

Aang smiled. “You should probably give him a name.”

“But… but…” 

“I talked with the Bhanti Tribe sage. I explained how bison shouldn’t be separated from their chosen human so soon after bonding, and he agreed you could take him back with you.”

Ty Lee put her hands to her mouth, before jumping forward and pulling Aang into a tight hug. “Thank you! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!”

Aang laughed and hugged her back. “You’re welcome! What do you think you’re gonna name him?”

Ty Lee released Aang and went back to giving her little bison friend scratches. Wads of fluffy white fur came out in her hands. Not wads, exactly, but…

“Clumps!” Ty Lee said. “Your name is gonna be Clumps now!”

The little bison, Clumps, rumbled in agreement. Ty Lee had her very own sky bison. Aang got out a rope and tethered Clumps to Appa’s saddle, before sitting down on Appa’s neck. He pet Appa’s head, eliciting a low rumble from the shaggy beast. 

Looking back, he could see Ty Lee looking at Clumps with unadulterated joy.

Feeling hope and happiness swell in his chest, Aang turned back to face forward. “Hold on tight everyone. Appa, yip yip!” 

Appa gave a bellow, and together they flew back to Caldera City.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Kudos/reviews are appreciated! :)


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